1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel label adapted for attachment to squeezable containers, such as soft squeezable bottles used for mayonnaise, ketchup, shampoo, and the like, and to a novel squeezable container with the label attached thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Decorative labels are affixed to many containers of commercial products for the purpose of stimulating consumer demand.
Printed label film or label paper is stored as a laminate tape in which the label film or label paper is temporarily attached to a release liner by a layer of a pressure-sensitive adhesive. The label film or the label paper on the release liner is transferred and permanently attached continuously and automatically to the surface of containers of commercial products by charging the label film or the label paper into an automatic labeller continuously.
Hard bottles made of high density polyethylene resins used for dressing and the like are attached with labels made of paper, YUPO.RTM., PET, and the like. However, soft squeezable bottles used for mayonnaise, ketchup, shampoo, and the like are not affixed with such labels.
Ordinary paper labels, PET labels, synthetic paper labels, polypropylene labels, and the like are not easily attached to the surface of soft squeezable bottles. Moreover, when the contents of the bottles are squeezed therefrom, the labels cannot follow the large deformation formed by the squeezing action, and shearing takes place between the labels an the surface of bottles, resulting in separation of the labels from the surface of the bottles,
Even labels made of soft polyvinyl chloride resins compounded with conventional amounts of plasticizers are generally not soft enough to follow the deformation of the squeezing action. When the amounts of the compounded plasticizers are increased to improve the situation, difficulties arise in the printing operations. Moreover, the adhesive property of the labels deteriorates because the adhesive layer is softened by migration of the plasticizers onto the adhesive layer.
A label made of a specific low density polyethylene homopolymer has been proposed for attaching to the surface of soft squeezable bottles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,158; International Publication WO 86/01550). Although the proposed label can follow the deformation, it creates a problem in the labeling operation because separation from the release liner does not occur smoothly in the automatic labeling process.
When a low density polyethylene resin is utilized, a film exclusively made of low density polyethylene causes high rates of defective products in the process of automatically labeling the squeezable bottles. Thus, this type of film is not suitable for labeling such bottles.